


There's No Place Like Home

by eric_idle_rules



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Crossover, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non Consensual, Oz - Freeform, Prison, Prison Sex, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-03
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-12-04 03:35:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/706057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eric_idle_rules/pseuds/eric_idle_rules
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Grimaldi family is taken down, Damian is taken to a prison in Malta while Luciano remains in a facility in the States: the Oswald State Correctional Facility (Level 4), otherwise known as Oz. After getting himself into some trouble, Dr. Reid Oliver is sent to work at the Oswald medical facility, which is where he first meets the young, blonde inmate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the LuRe Big Bang challenge on livejournal

Every great empire had its fall. That was inevitable. From the Romans to the English… to the Grimaldis. No, they might not be on the same scale as one another, Damian Grimaldi didn’t claim countries for his own, but when it came to the black market, he was indeed the emperor. 

That was until his downfall. He never suspected that one buyer to be an undercover cop, none of his men did. The man had been faithful to them for quite some time now; this wasn’t the first or the biggest purchase he’d made when it came to the goods that Grimaldi sold. But it was the one that brought them all down.

Now Damian found himself imprisoned in Malta, his home country where most of his business was done. His only son was brought down, too. Thankfully, he’d managed to pull some strings, so instead of sitting in the same max security Maltese prison as him, Luciano was in a max security prison in America: Oswald State Correctional Facility (Level 4), better known as Oz.

When he was first brought in, he was sent straight to Gen Pop, given his standard prison issued jumpsuit customized with his prisoner number: 99G613. 

It didn’t take more than a few hours to learn that life in Oz was hell and was always going to be hell. When he was living with his father, he had everything he could have ever wanted. He had all the money in the world, private jets, the finest food and drink, and he certainly couldn’t forget the men he had met along the way. With one little look or gesture, he was able to have any man he wanted in his bed. Of course, all those nights spent out, Damian had always assumed his son was with some woman or another.

But now he was learning that his good looks and youth was garnering him the _wrong_ kind of attention. He could feel his cellmate’s eyes on him from the second he entered the cell. While he was never one to back down, he always had his father, or one of his father’s well armed men around him. In here he was on his own. Sure, his father had an in with the judge that sent him here instead of Malta, but no one was going to be able to protect him now that he was actually in here.

_That_ lesson was learned after lights out, when there were no guards around and it was Luciano and his cellmate alone. “You’re a pretty little thing, aren’t cha?” his cellmate, Sammy, otherwise known as 95R627, said to him as he looked down from the top bunk to where he was finishing up taking a piss.

Luke had never felt fear so great as he did in that moment. He put on a brave front, though, as he tucked himself away and turned around. “If you so much as touch me, my father—”

Then, suddenly, the one defense that he’d always had came crashing down. “You think I don’t know who your daddy is, _Luciano_? You think we don’t know Damian Grimaldi? Your daddy is thousands of miles away on the other side of the world rotting in a cell worse than this one. If you think he can protect you here, you’re sadly mistaken…” He paused, seeing the fear clearly in the young man’s eyes, though he was still trying to keep up appearances. “But I can.”

“You can what?” he asked.

“Protect you.”

Luciano suddenly looked suspicious. But he hadn’t spent years living in a criminal dynasty to know that nothing came for free. And he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wouldn’t like the cost. At the same time, though, the cost could be worth it.

“What if I say no?”

He raised both eyebrows and smirked at the same time before reclining back on his bunk. “Then it’s open season on Luciano Grimaldi’s pretty little ass.”

“What if I accept?” he asked, voice not wavering, but inside his stomach had curled up into a little ball; he thought for sure he was going to be sick.

“I get my guys to watch out for your wellbeing.”

“And what will it cost me?” he asked. 

“I get my guys to watch out for you,” he answered, now sitting up so he could actually hop down from his bunk. Walking up to his new cellmate, he continued, “And no one touches you… except for me.” 

All in all, his options were pretty shitty. It was either potentially be raped or killed by any man in or out of Gen Pop, probably including his cellmate, or be raped by his cellmate on a nightly basis and becoming his prison bitch. He could take his chances with the dogs, but that would leave him unbelievably vulnerable, and coming from such a well known familial background, that could mean trouble. A lot of trouble. He was no stranger to kidnapping and ransom scenarios, and he’d also heard of the little riot this prison had not two years ago. He could make for a bargaining chip of some sort.

Once his options had been weighed, Luke set his jaw and gave his cellmate a small, subtle nod. But it was enough of a nod for the cellmate to know exactly what he meant. “Good choice, Luciano.” He let his eyes roam up and down young blonde's body, placing a hand on his cheek. “You’re so young… your skin is so soft, soft as a woman’s… I bet your ass is nice and tight, too.”

He didn’t give his cellmate the satisfaction of hearing any noises of pain or protest. It hurt. It hurt far worse than his first time had. And he prayed to god that this man was clean of all STDs as he sat on the toilet once his cellmate had gone to bed, trying to expel all the remnants of the last hour out of his body.

The next morning, he awoke, his entire body aching. The prison beds were a far cry from what he was used to. His skin was crawling as his mind flashed back to all the things that happened the night before. What he needed was a shower.

However, he didn’t get that luxury. His body tensed when he heard the top bunk creaking, knowing that his cellmate was beginning to awake himself. Feet hit the floor, and soon Luke could hear him pissing into the metal toilet. And then he felt the man’s presence right next to him. “Good morning, Luciano.” He could even smell the man’s morning breath. “It’s time to wake up. We’ve got breakfast, then I can show you where we’ll be working in the dress factory.”

He had to stop himself from groaning. “Can’t I take a shower first?” he asked.

“Oh no, no, no. We’ll shower after our work is done today.”

“ _We_?”

He actually heard the man chuckle. “You didn’t think I’d be letting you shower alone, did you? I told you that I’d protect you, and if I let you shower alone, you’d be left vulnerable to any man that comes along. And your ass was so sweet, I can imagine that a lot of people would want a piece.” He paused for just a brief moment before continuing, “But that wasn’t your first time, was it?” He didn’t wait for Luciano to answer, not that he would have, anyway. “Maybe you’d like it if everyone had a go at your ass.”

“You said you wouldn’t let anything like that happen!” he protested instantly, face turning pale at the mere thought. He’d already been disgraced enough. “We made a deal. You protect me, and no one else touches me.”

Sammy nodded and said, “And my word is good.”

Luciano found himself holding back on saying, “It better be.” He didn’t need to stir up any further trouble between himself and Sammy… who, last night, insisted that he needn’t bother calling him Sammy, that he could simply call him Sir.

Breakfast was unremarkable, certainly nothing like what he’d eat while living and working with Damian. And sitting on the hard bench after the previous night, Sir right beside him and his guys sitting near and around them, jostling the table, was not helping matters. But he wasn’t going to let Oz break him, not now, not ever. 

After their trays were placed in the washing rack, Sir said, “And now we go to work. We’re in the dress factory.”

“As in women’s dresses?” Luciano asked, and as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he prayed that he wasn’t speaking out of line. The last thing that he wanted was for Sir to feel like he was getting mouthy and put him back in line.

“As in women’s dresses,” he answered.

Luciano followed Sir into the factory, watching as people moved back and forth in a line as they rolled out bolts of fabric, keeping the fabric flat before cutting it into long strips. They then repeated the process. Needless to say, Luciano was not at all used to factory work. Or work in general.

He watched for a little bit before Sir asked, “What the hell are you standing around for?”

“Wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing,” he answered. 

“Won’t learn unless you get your ass over here.”

Taking a deep breath, Luciano grabbed a bolt of fabric, walking as the machine moved, smoothing out the fabric. It wasn’t hard to get the hang of things and it was easy to realize this was going to be extremely tedious, repetitive work. His first instinct was to bitch and moan, but he figured that wouldn’t get him very far, not here. It wasn’t as though anyone actually wanted to be there. If he started to complain, it probably wouldn’t take the others long to shut him up. So, he worked in silence, doing nothing more than running his hand over a bolt of fabric for _hours_.

Doing the same thing over and over, along with being on his feet for that entire time, had made Luciano hungrier than he thought he’d be. He never imagined he’d be craving the prison food, but at that moment in time, he didn’t really care. He needed something and they gave him something. It wasn’t much, and it wasn’t good, but it was food. 

There were prisoners serving the food, something that he hadn’t expected, and he couldn’t help but wonder how they got themselves that job. That had to be the best job around this place. 

“It’s time to go,” Luciano heard his cellmate saying.

“Yes, Sir,” he said as he stood, off to return his tray.

“We’ll go back to our cell, then we can work out. After that we’ll go to the shower.”

“Yes, Sir.” He needed a shower, had needed one since _last night_ , but he wanted to spend that time alone, cleansing his body of all the grime that had accumulated from a mere day spent in the prison. At this rate, he figured he’d never feel clean again for the rest of his life.

The workout was nothing more than lifting some weights for about half an hour, he and Sir spotting for one another. Some other inmates were in there with them, lifting weights themselves or using the punching bag or playing basketball.

With their workout finished, they headed back to their cells, stripped and wrapped their prison issued towels around them. Walking towards the showers, Luciano felt eyes upon him, none of them friendly. He tried paying them no mind, but in the back of his head he prayed that Sir would continue to be good on his word.

Upon reaching the showers, Sir grabbed the towel on Luciano’s waist and yanked it off, tossing the towel to the side before proceeding to turn the water on. Sir then told him, “Get in the water.”

Luciano had never been one to be ordered around, but in here he had little choice, not unless he wanted to become _everyone’s_ prison bitch. So, he stepped under the cold spray, goosebumps popping up all over his skin.

“You are a pretty little bitch, aren’t you?” Sir asked, more to himself than to his blonde cellmate. 

Before that day, Luciano had always enjoyed sex in the shower, with his partner rubbing his body clean before pounding into him, only to wash all the evidence away once they were finished. It had always been a fun experience going down on another man in the shower with the water droplets dripping down from the other man’s body into his mouth as he sucked the dick further into his mouth. 

He didn’t know if he’d ever enjoy having sex in the shower again after that day. 

Sir had turned him around and fucked him right there against the wall of the shower, right under the spray, grunting in his ear the whole time. He was repulsed knowing that he alone had granted this permission to be violated at every turn. The worst of it had to have been when another inmate came along and simply let it happen. He didn’t turn to get the guards, didn’t say anything to stop it… he just waited for them to finish before heading under his own shower head.

At least this time Luciano was able to wash himself off right away. He felt only slightly less dirty than he did the night before. 

They finished their shower when Sir said they were finished. Heading back to their cell, towels wrapped around them, Sir said, “I got plans for you later tonight.”

Luciano couldn’t hold his tongue this time as he asked, “Again?”

Sir gave the young blonde a stern look, one that said he should not be questioned. “I’ll do what the fuck I want, when the fuck I want. And if you don’t like that, I don’t need to hold up my end of the bargain.”

He wanted to fire back that he hadn’t even _needed_ his protective services as of yet, but he didn’t. He was already getting fucked that night, the last thing he needed was for Sir to throw in some additional blows. He’d never know if he actually needed Sir or not unless he got rid of him… and if he did that, it wouldn’t surprise him if Sir _and_ all his guys had a go at him. He’d seen his own father do that before if someone turned on them from the inside. One day they would think they were free from Damian’s reign only for him to wind up dead and at the bottom of the ocean the next day. “Yes, Sir.” That seemed to become his go to thing to say when he disagreed with something that was said. 

And so it went. Every night Luciano prayed that, just maybe, Sir would want to take a break from fucking him. He never did. Every day he prayed that he’d be able to, just once, take a shower by himself. He never could. The weekends were the only reprieve he had from the dress factory, but not a day went by when he was without Sir.

~~~

Reid Oliver had never been one to go strictly by the books. Most of the time, his go for broke, go big or go home attitude was overlooked because he was successful almost all the time. His unconventional, forward thinking methods got himself a pass from the higher ups in his hospital.

However, the corporate owners of the hospital didn’t appreciate Dr. Oliver’s techniques _or_ his arrogance. He got the results, yes, but when the hospital owners learned of the things he was doing, they didn’t approve at all. Then they spoke to him and he _knew_ that he was doing things that most people wouldn’t approve of, yet he did them anyway and was never once reprimanded.

Until the one time Reid went and pushed things too far.

He’d never actually had to face an ultimatum before, and the things they were threatening were quite serious. Such as the loss of his medical license. The choice wasn’t easy, though, of course it was never meant to be.

“You’ve got two choices, Dr. Oliver,” they said to him.

He rolled his eyes at them, hadn’t taken them quite as seriously as he should have. He expected to have to make some kind of an apology and that would be that. Then they could all go their separate ways once more. “And what are those, pray tell?”

“You either lose your medical license or you can continue to practice—”

Reid cut them off, “You’re letting me continue to practice? Why the hell would I ever even consider the loss of my license?”

“Let me finish. You either get stripped of your license to practice medicine or you can go work in the Oswald State Correctional Facility medical ward.”

“You want me to work _in a prison?_ ” Reid asked them in utter shock. 

“Yes.”

And that was that. It was either or. There was no negotiation, no middle ground. “What do you expect me to say? I can’t just _stop_ being a doctor.”

“Then your decision’s been made?”

“I can’t work in a prison.”

“You can and you will if you want to keep your license.”

That was how Dr. Oliver found himself entering the locked down front doors of the Oswald Correctional Facility. He had a box full of his things, which he was told to set down on the security desk as he walked through metal detectors. The guard on duty quickly rummaged through the box (which Reid did not in the least bit appreciate) and sent him on his way.

“Follow me,” yet another guard said.

He did as he was told, heading deeper into this hell, when all he wanted to do was turn around, march out of here, right back to his car, drive out of the lot to never look back so he could return to his hospital and demand he be reinstated. There was no reason for him to be removed. Sure, he took risks, but great doctors _had_ to take risks if it meant saving a life. He didn’t belong in a rundown prison that probably hadn’t had maintenance done on it since it was built God only knows how long ago. He needed to be in the best facilities in the world, with the best tools and the best technology. He was too good to do nothing more than administer Prozac to the crazies on death row. What he should be doing was operating one people’s brains. He shouldn’t be here wasting his skills on prisoners. He removed tumors from children’s heads, allowed the blind to see again… what he didn’t do was stitch up shank wounds left after a gang fight.

“Here we are,” the guard said, causing Reid to snap out of his train of thought. They had arrived at the doors of the medical ward, Reid still in a state of utter disbelief that he had been reduced to _this_. He graduated from Harvard medical school; they didn’t come any better than Dr. Reid Oliver. Yet here he was, the corporate hospital owners claiming it was his own arrogance that sent him to Oz. That was the furthest thing from the truth. He was honest, confident and intelligent, which often read as arrogance, but to succeed as his job, he needed to be all those things. He couldn’t be wishy-washy when it came to saving a life.

But now he was stuck in this hell hole of a prison until those higher ups realized just how much they actually needed him. Hopefully they’d come to their senses sooner rather than later.

He was greeted by Dr. Gloria Nathan soon after his arrival. She was quick to show him where to put his things and begin to show him the way things worked around here. Not that he actually cared. So now he knew the routine, that didn’t make him want to be there anymore.

Back at the hospital, he was used to marathon surgeries, hours spent in an operating room… here, his first assignment was to distribute the designated amount of medication to whoever needed it so it could be taken down to solitary confinement. This was a disgusting waste of his skill, and he couldn’t believe he’d been reduced to such a low. “How can you stand this?” he asked Gloria.

“How can I stand this?” she repeated. “You’ve been here for an hour and you’re asking me that? This is my job, Dr. Oliver. I get to help so many people here.”

“They’re prisoners. Some of them are in here for life and the ones that are released will probably be back in a few years, anyway. They’re not going to make anything of their lives. It’s not like saving a child with a brain tumor. That child has a chance to become something, not like those so called men living in those cells.”

“You’re right. These men don’t have much, but while they’re here, they should be able to be healthy and have access to the best care that they can get. I chose this job because I knew I could make a difference for them. Now, I know you didn’t have a choice in the matter, it was either here or nothing, but if that’s your attitude, then maybe it _should_ be nothing,” she said to him, not holding her thoughts and opinions back at all.

Reid could feel anger bubbling up inside. How _dare she_? Sure, he’d saved a fair share of morons in his life, teenagers who had been speeding down back roads only to find themselves colliding head first into a tree after a dip into a pothole or attempting to avoid a rogue deer, but most of the time, he was performing miracles on people who didn’t bring their condition upon themselves. Not like the people in this prison. They did the crime, now they’re doing the time. 

Still, he couldn’t afford to lose his temper. Not here, not now. He’d only _just_ started doing his own form of time at the prison and he didn’t need to risk losing his position here, therefore losing his medical license for good. If he couldn’t be a doctor, he didn’t know what he’d do with himself. Not even being anywhere near an operating room was already enough to make him go a bit stir crazy.

In the end, he kept his mouth shut for the first time in a long time. He simply let himself fume internally, dumping out the medication from their little plastic bottles with more force than necessary, squeezing the white tops on them as he screwed them off just a little tighter than normal, slamming the bottles back onto the table once he had the medicine into its designated containers.

His actions didn’t go unnoticed by Gloria. After being in a prison for so long, she could read people well, could see through their bullshit. She knew Reid was pissed, but hoped that somewhere along the line, he’d come to see that what they did really made a difference in these people’s lives. If it weren’t for them giving them regular checkups, giving them their meds, just offering a place for them if they were ill was just a little touch of normality, a hint of humanity they didn’t get to see inside these thick brick walls. It might take a week, it could take far longer, or in the worst case it simply wouldn’t happen at all, but Gloria thought that Reid would one day have his breakthrough, that he would realize that being sent here was one of the best things that could have ever happened to him.

Every day that went by since the first one in which Reid _didn’t_ receive a call from his old hospital telling him that they’d made a horrible mistake had him becoming ever more upset. He felt useless in Oz. If he didn’t cut into someone’s brain soon, he’d lose it completely. He also didn’t want to become rusty. The longer he was away from the operating table was just one more day he wasn’t keeping his skills sharp.

Each morning he awoke hoping it’d all been one long nightmare, but he knew that he wasn’t just dreaming he, he was _living_ the nightmare.

It was about a week after starting he was informed he’d be assisting with the AIDS patients. He didn’t know if he was assigned this unit simply because Gloria wanted him to see a little bit of everything, or if she wanted _that_ to bring out the compassion within him. There was no denying that it was a sad sight, all these men in the final stages of the disease, knowing they didn’t have much time left. But at the same time, there was nothing he could do to make it any better. He gave them their medicine, spoke to any of them that spoke to him and even fluffed one of their pillows. And that was the best that he could do. There were no operations that would save them, no miracle that he could perform this time. 

Being a gay man himself, it really hit home the destructiveness of the disease, which is why he was always cautious, though he knew that it wasn’t just gay men who could get or spread the disease, unlike what some morons out there liked to believe. As he walked around the room, giving people their pills, he wondered who of them got HIV before anyone really knew about it from having unprotected sex, or who could have possibly had the disease transmitted to them within the walls of Oz after being raped, or who of them got it after using dirty needles as they shot up.

He didn’t ask questions, though, and doubted that anyone was actually in any mood to talk. All he did was what Gloria told him to do: make their last few moments as comfortable as possible for them.

Most of them slept as much as they could; it made things seem less painful. When he was finished distributing their medicine, he leaned against the doorframe to the ward, eyes scanning over them all. He didn’t notice Gloria was there until she was speaking to him. “You can’t tell me you don’t have an ounce of compassion for these men.”

He turned to her then and asked, “How many of them brought it upon themselves? No one asks to a brain tumor, Dr. Nathan, but when you’re shooting up with dirty needles, you’re asking for more than just a high.”

As she watched him walk off, looking for some other things to do to keep him busy, she sighed audibly. She was determined to break through these walls he’d built up. He was pissed off; she could only imagine if she’d been in his shoes and been forced to come here. But it wouldn’t make her any less caring, she would still do her job as best as she could. He was so cold, to her, to the patients. Honestly, she didn’t know why someone of his demeanor would even _want_ to be a doctor, knowing that he would have to deal with people constantly. She couldn’t believe that he was that rude to his patients back at his hospital, especially not when dealing with children. 

Though the men they were dealing with now were a far cry from an innocent child. However, she knew there had to be something, somewhere, somehow, that would let her see the true Reid Oliver, the man who go to any lengths to save a life, not this man now who seemed to care about nothing and no one. 

There were always eye opening moments in Oz, for better or for worse. What she wanted was for him to experience one of those moments that happened that made people realize that they were indeed making a difference in someone’s life, despite the fact that the person they helped is a prisoner. She just hoped that he would have that moment sooner rather than later. 

~~~

The weeks continued to melt into one another, one day just like the next, which was just like the day previous. Wake up, piss, eat, work, eat, shit, shower, eat, get fucked by Sammy, sleep. For a long time, that was life. Luciano didn’t think it could get any worse. He’d become _used_ to having Sir’s dick up his ass every night. He’d become used to turning his mind and body off when Sir was having his way with him. He’d become used to feeling absolutely nothing.

That was how he was beginning to feel about everything. His life had become _nothing_. Never did he think that his life would feel so empty. Before Oz, he had everything he ever could have wanted. He had things he didn’t even _know_ he wanted. His life used to be glamorous. Every weekend, they would attend the best parties, he and his father. Now those parties felt like distant dreams. He had spent just over two months in Oz and those two months, which would otherwise fell like a relatively short time span, had sucked the life out of him.

He had no desire left in him anymore. No will. He was an empty shell of the man that he used to be. And he was sure that was just how Sir wanted him. Sir wanted to break him, make him his and he managed to do just that. 

That night, as Sir fucked him, he grabbed a handful of blonde hair and yanked Luciano’s head back, looking into his face. He didn’t even flinch from the sudden forceful pulling of his hair. He looked blank, broken, nothing at all like the scared little boy he’d been that first night. 

He was quick to finish off after that, coming inside the young man as he always did, leaving him with a reminder of just who he belonged to.

Later in the week, Sammy told Luciano to get ready for their shower as usual. Only this time, things didn’t go as planned. “No.” Somewhere deep inside, Luciano built up the strength to finally say no. A little spark flamed inside him, bringing back a passion that he hadn’t had since before entering the prison. He wanted to be free of the constraints of Sir’s reins. 

“No? What do you mean no?”

“I mean _no_. I don’t want to shower with you. I don’t want your protection. I don’t _need_ your protection. I never needed it, I just thought I did… all you ever wanted was my ass, anyway. You haven’t done anything for me except give me a sore ass and maybe some STD.”

“That’s what you want? You want me to just let you go?” He leveled the young man with a stare for a moment before grinning. “If that’s what you want, you got it.”

As the day went on, Luciano discovered how different it was outside of Sir’s, no, Sammy’s (he didn’t have to call him Sir ever again) protection. He didn’t quite know where to sit at dinner time and he found that he was more jumpy when anyone brushed against him… but he was able to take a shower alone. While he didn’t exactly enjoy it, it was a far better experience than any shower with Sammy had been. And that night? He wasn’t touched once. What he didn’t know was that Sammy had fallen asleep with a smirk on his face, planning out exactly what he was going to do to show Luciano just how much his protection truly was needed. 

The next day seemed to go by even better than the last. For two days in a row, he was able to shower and not be disturbed (though he was thankful he was just leaving as another inmate entered). 

Come Wednesday, though, _everything_ changed. The day started off as each day had previously. It wasn’t until he went to work out for a little while that things started to feel wrong. He didn’t work out every day, with Sir it was usually an every other day event. This was the first time he thought he might use the gym, knowing that Sir had worked out there the day before. 

He didn’t know that he had eyes on him since the second Sir allowed him his freedom. Sir had told his guys to watch him, follow him, wait for him to be alone. While Luciano was working out, opting for the punching bag, people were coming and going, but he barely even noticed. 

How would he know that one of the men that left was one of Sammy’s? How would he know that that one man would go back and let every other one of Sammy’s men know that the Grimaldi kid was in the gym? How was he to know that that was Sammy’s plan all along?

The group of men entered the gym, quietly telling anyone not involved to leave. They didn’t have any guards to worry about; they’d already paid them off quite nicely. 

And that was when Luciano really noticed the shift in the atmosphere. Sir wasn’t there, but he could feel his presence, especially as each man got closer. Once they had surrounded him, the one that left to get the recruits spoke. “Sammy told us that you felt you didn’t need him anymore.”

Scared as all hell, but still wanting to defend himself, Luciano replied, “I don’t. I never did.”

“If it wasn’t for Sammy letting me know you were his, I would have fucked that pretty little ass of yours weeks ago.” He smirked as the blonde’s eyes grew wide with fear. “Sammy did a lot for you, you know… and then you turned you back on him. Well, now he thinks it’s time you see what happens when you don’t have him watching over you.”

One man kicked the back of Luciano’s knees, causing them to buckle beneath him. When someone’s dick was held in front of his face, he sealed his lips tight, turning his head away. He couldn’t stand up, though, as there were two men holding him down by the shoulders. His face was forcibly grabbed and turned, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Sammy told me about what a good little mouth you have. Open it,” he ordered. When the order wasn’t obeyed, he told one of his buddies to open it for him and to keep it open. The next thing Luciano was aware of was the man’s dick being shoved into his mouth. His first instinct was to bite and bite hard, but then he remembered there were more people there with him and if he hurt this man, then they would most likely kill him. And they wouldn’t make it quick or painless, of that he was sure. 

Tears were forming in his eyes as the man drove his cock into his mouth, down his throat, choking him, gagging him. It felt like it went on for a lifetime before cum was being shot down his throat, being forced to swallow it.

The men let go of his shoulders, pushing him to the ground. Spit drizzled down from his mouth as he coughed, trying to catch his breath. He didn’t get much time, though, before he felt them tugging at his clothes. He took in a shuddering breath, stomach knotting up as he just _knew_ what was about to happen.

Suddenly, there as a kick to his stomach. His hand went to it, trying to cradle where it hurt. His face fell forward towards the floor, hoping that that would be the end of it. It wasn’t. One kick landed after another, and soon he found himself laid out on his back, in so much pain currently that he couldn’t imagine it could get worse. 

But this was Oz. Things only got worse. They were back to tearing at his clothes, leaving him in nothing. He heard someone ask, “Who’s going first?”

If he thought that first night with Sir was bad, it was nothing compared to this. He could _feel_ the first man tearing into him, his body wanting to reject the intrusion, but there was nothing he could do. He was too weakened to fight back, the beating from before taking so much out of him. 

He could feel him coming and pulling out right before a second man took his place. There was more pain, more tearing up of his insides, as others continued to kick him and hold him down. It felt like hours later, though it was probably only a few minutes, when that guy was coming in him. The last thing he remembered was feeling a third man start to fuck him. After that, the pain became too much and he passed out on the spot.

~~~

When word got out about the body on the floor of the gym, people were down there with a stretcher as soon as they could get there. Luciano was rushed to the medical ward, Dr. Gloria Nathan there at his side from the get go, ready to get him into surgery. There wasn’t enough time to get him to the closest hospital, so she was going to have to operate there.

That was until Dr. Reid Oliver saw him. Behind the blood and the bruising Reid could see the most beautiful young man he’d ever seen. His blonde hair was stained with blood and his body covered in cuts and marks, but he could see beneath all that was a stunning young man. He couldn’t take his eyes off him; it would be an image forever imprinted in his memory.

“Let me,” Reid said.

Dr. Nathan turned her head to look at Reid as the stretcher was continued to be wheeled away to where the surgery would begin. There was a look of surprise on her face. Ever since coming to Oz, Dr. Oliver had never once volunteered to do anything. He was always reluctant, constantly back talking everyone and he never shut up about being too good for a prison medical ward. Yet here they were, faced with the most serious injuries seen since his arrival and he wanted to take the responsibility. She didn’t know why, quite frankly she didn’t care, but seeing him so willing to help the Grimaldi boy made her think that maybe he did have a heart. She nodded, giving him the ok. She knew he was a highly capable surgeon, would know it even if he didn’t mention it to her every single day, so she knew that things would go smoothly, or as smoothly as something like this could go.

Reid moved, preparing himself to operate. The boy had been covered in a sheet as he was rolled into the ward and as soon as he was ready, he pulled the sheet back and the full extent of all his injuries were visible, as his body was completely exposed. He wasn’t just bleeding from the cuts on his face and body, he had blood coming from his ass, a sure sign that he’d been raped, probably by more than one person.

“Has anybody checked his medical records for his blood type?” he shouted, praying that someone on staff would hear him. From the looks of things, the boy had already lost quite a bit of blood before he was even found and he was still bleeding. He was going to stop the bleeding, but incase anything happened, it would be nice to know if that they had some on hand… though he doubted it because this was Oz, after all. It wasn’t the kind of hospital he was used to working in, ones with only the best, newest forms of technology. Oz was exactly the opposite. There was nothing high tech and there was certainly nothing new. But in that moment, all he wanted was to save this boy’s life. And he was Dr. Reid Oliver; he _always_ got the results.

He set right to work, cleaning out the wounds to see just how deep they ran. It didn’t seem like any form of shank was involved, but he was well and truly banged up. There wasn’t much that could be done for his internal injuries, though. Once he was fixed up externally, they would have to see what, if anything, was damaged on the inside. They’d also have to check him several times for STDs, particularly HIV.

Reid was extra careful while examining the wounds on his face once the major injures were taken care of. There was no doubt he had a broken nose, which they could reset easily. Other internal injuries were also possible, which they would need to check for soon as the bleeding had stopped. However, the tearing of his rectum was going to be a long recovery, as those wounds could easily be reopened from normal bodily functions or fast movement. 

“I’ve never seen you so… caring about someone,” Gloria said.

Reid looked to her, having completely forgotten she was even there. For the longest time, there was no one but him and this young man. “I’m looking after a patient,” was his reply. As though he treated every patient with this amount of gentle caring that he was bestowing upon this young man.

“I’ve seen you with a lot of patients, Dr. Oliver,” she began, “and I’ve never seen you like this.”

He didn’t reply to her, simply said, “Let’s get some x-rays done.” There was no time to waste; there could be some serious injuries they were dealing with and they needed to see exactly what had to be done. Now that the external injuries were dealt with, if things were too bad, the young man could be sent off to a proper hospital where they had better facilities, better tools to help. 

Gloria nodded, knowing that they had to act quickly to give him the best treatment they could. The x-rays were quick, yet thorough, and as soon as they were ready, Reid was examining them. There were bruised ribs, but nothing was broken aside from his nose. He couldn’t recall the last time he actually found himself giving thanks to God for something, for _anything_ , but when he saw those x-rays and saw the relatively small amount of damage done to this young man’s insides, he mumbled, “Thank God.”

It suddenly hit him that after all this time, all the work he’d put into saving the man whose insides he was currently looking at, he never knew his name. At his hospital, before he saw anyone, he would read over their files, have long, extensive consultations with them and their family members. This scenario here had been do or die. Quite literally. There was no time for the normal preliminary procedures. “What’s his name?” Reid asked, knowing that Gloria was near.


	2. Chapter 2

“Grimaldi,” she answered. She knew every prisoner in the place, whether she’d seen them once or a hundred times. 

“His entire name,” Reid then said.

“Luciano Eduardo Grimaldi,” she told him, after a quick glance at his file to find his middle name.

Reid had heard about him, his whole family. Had heard what they did to build up their empire and all about their fall. He also knew that this young man’s father was off rotting in a prison in Malta, while he was suffering here for his father’s crimes. Luciano may not be a completely innocent party, but Reid didn’t think he was involved directly in anything enough to have been sent to Oz, of all places. Yet here he was, here they both were. Turning back to Gloria he uttered two words that she didn’t even think he _knew_ , “Thank you.”

It was right then that Gloria knew Reid had his eye opening experience. This kind of attack wasn’t unheard of, but it didn’t happen often. In the time he’d been here, the worst that he’d seen was some Latino with a busted jaw after he picked a fight with some black guy he never had business picking a fight with. “You’re welcome.”

“Will they find out who did this?” Reid asked.

“Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Over the years, there’s been a lot of bad shit to happen in Oz and the warden and COs do their best to find out the culprit… if they don’t, though, some other prisoner usually does and they decide to handle it themselves.”

“Some other prisoner? Like an ally? Look at him, do you really think he has any allies?” Reid asked.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you care about this patient,” she said, not responding to his questions.

He leveled her with a look that was unreadable by her. “Then I’d say you don’t know much at all, especially about me, Dr. Nathan.”

~~~

Word of the attack spread quickly throughout the prison, news like that always spread like wildfire. The prisoners were the biggest gossip hounds; it was their own form of entertainment. 

Tim McManus ran one particular unit within the prison, his brain child, Emerald City, more often called Em City. When the Grimaldi boy was first brought into Oz, he’d wanted him in his unit. The warden said no, as he didn’t want anymore people in there with relative “celebrity” status, such as Kareem Said, a prominent figure amongst the Muslims in and out of the prison. 

However, now the young Grimaldi had no one to go back to in Gen Pop and McManus was in Warden Leo Glenn’s office the instant he heard the news of the attack. “Now can I have Grimaldi?” he asked.

Glenn didn’t like it when trouble like that broke out. It made the prison look bad and it made him look bad. Most of the time, whenever Tim wanted something, he gave in. The last time, though, he didn’t give Tim what he wanted and was wondering if he should regret that decision or not. So, this time, he did give in. “When he’s good enough to go back, when or if ever that may be, he can go to Em City.”

Before he was going anywhere, though, he was going to have to go in for a psychiatric evaluation by their resident nun and psychologist, Sister Peter-Marie. 

“Thank you, Leo. I’ll see to it that there are eyes on him,” Tim promised.

“There better be. I don’t need more _shit_ happening on my watch.” They’d had a riot just two years prior and only a year ago, a man had both his arms and legs broken. Now there was this, a likely gang rape of the son of a very well know and potentially still powerful crime lord. 

“You won’t regret it.” He wanted Grimaldi from the start, but now he was actually going to have him in Em City. He wasn’t sure just what he was going to do with him, but he wanted to be able to observe him, watch him, learn him, just like he did with the other prisoners in his unit. 

“You damn well better be right, McManus,” Leo said with a sigh as he leaned back into his chair. He just found himself hoping in that moment that the kid would get well enough to actually be placed into Em City. First, though, he would need to be kept updated on his condition so that when he, hopefully, wakes, he can schedule a consultation with both Sister Pete and Father Ray Mukada. They would be the ones determining Luciano’s initial fate upon his release from the hospital ward.

~~~

Luciano let out a groan when he finally came to. He had never experienced so much overwhelming pain. Well, except for what caused him to end up in his current location. “Mr. Grimaldi, you’re awake,” Dr. Oliver said. He’d been doing his usual rounds, though he tried to not stray too far from the Grimaldi boy; there was a part of him that wanted to be there with him when he finally awoke. 

“I—,” he croaked, not even able to speak without feeling pain.

“Do you need some water?” Reid asked, to which the young man nodded. “I’ll be right back.” He ran into Gloria on the way to fetching the water and let her know. “Grimaldi is up. I’m getting him some water.”

“Does he look ok?”

“You’ve got two legs, why don’t you go see for yourself?” he replied, continuing on his way to get some water.

Gloria decided that she may as well see for herself how the boy was doing. He was her patient, as well. “Luciano?” she said softly.

He looked over to her, pain and humiliation etched on his face. 

“I just came to check on you. Dr. Oliver told me you were awake.” Then he actually looked somewhat confused. He’d heard that there was a new doctor in Oz, sent here as a prison sentence of his own, but he’d never met the man before. Though he had also heard that the man was a big asshole. 

“Here’s your water. I also brought you something for the pain,” Reid said when he came back a few moments later.

Taking the cup and pills, Luciano downed everything, thankful for the little bit of relief that the water brought him. Hopefully the medicine would kick in and provide some further relief. 

“Did that help any?”

“Yes, thank you,” Luciano said to the man, dragging out the you a little as he didn’t know just who he was thanking. 

“Dr. Oliver,” Gloria finished for him. “I didn’t realize you two hadn’t met before.”

“We hadn’t, no,” he replied, looking up into the handsome doctor’s face.

“I’m glad to see you’re healing, Mr. Grimaldi, but I’ve got to get back to my work. If the pain persists, let one of us know,” Reid said to him. Just as he was about to leave, though, he heard the young man speak.

“Call me Luke. Please. Mr. Grimaldi makes me think of my father… and I don’t want to be called Luciano anymore.” There were too many bad things he associated with his given name now. Sir called him Luciano while he was violating him each and every night. The men Sir set on him called him Luciano as they took their turns raping him. He didn’t want that name to be associated with the attractive, messy haired doctor.

Reid gave a little nod, not saying anything outright one way or the other, before walking off to continue with his rounds.

“Now that you’re awake, we’re going to have to do some tests,” Gloria said now that she and Luke were without Reid. “Before we do anything, though, I need to know how you are.”

“I hurt,” he answered. “I hurt everywhere.”

“You’ll have to be examined for any other injuries we may have missed. You have bruised ribs and a broken nose, which we reset for you, as well as the external injuries you sustained. There was also severe damage done to your rectum, all of which will have to be monitored during the course of your recovery.”

Luke felt humiliated at the mention of what happened to him. He had heard before that sometimes people could forget horrible things such as that happening to them, but he didn’t think that was true. He could remember everything. 

Gloria could see on his face that it was upsetting him to talk about it, and she couldn’t blame him. He’d been through a traumatizing experience and she imagined it would be difficult for anyone to talk about it. “We’re going to do everything we can to keep you comfortable and get you fully recovered. I’ll let Sister Pete know that you’re up and we can schedule an appointment with her in the next couple days.”

After giving a small nod, Luke yawned. Whatever the other doctor had given him was kicking in and thankfully putting him to sleep. 

“We need to let Glynn know that he’s awake,” Gloria said when she stopped Reid in the office.

“I was looking for some sort of intercom or phone in here to try and do that,” Reid told her. “But I couldn’t find anything.”

“We have to go talk to him.”

Reid raised an eyebrow. “Really? You’re that far back in the Stone Age that you don’t even have an efficient way to communicate with one another? That seems completely absurd.”

“We work with what we have. Now, I’ve got two working legs, I’ll go and speak with him. Just make sure nothing happens here, ok?”

As she left the room, Reid muttered, “I’m a brain surgeon, not a fucking baby sitter.” However, he did as he was told. Somewhat. He sat at the desk in the office, occasionally rolling the chair over to look out the door, mainly to try and get a glimpse at Luke.

~~~

After a swift knock, Gloria let herself into Leo’s office. “Gloria, what brings you here?”

“The Grimaldi boy is up,” she told him. “I thought you should know before Pete. But I don’t know if you want to tell her or you want me to.”

“Doesn’t matter, as long as she sees him,” he answered. “If he’s ok to move back once he’s physically recovered, Tim wants to take him.”

“He’s moving to Em City?” Gloria asked.

“He is. I don’t know how well he’ll do there, but that’s where he’s going. Tim swore to me that he’d keep eyes on him, but… we could have had a murder on our hands today.”

Suddenly, Gloria was struck with an idea. All the inmates worked, some in the kitchen, the Aryans worked the mail room, others worked in the dress factory… “Where does he work now?”

“The factory,” he replied. That was where most of the inmates went when they got here unless they had other skills, such as Tobias Beecher’s typing ability, which landed him a job in Sister Pete’s office.

“How would you feel about moving him to work in the hospital ward?” she asked. “It would allow us to monitor his recovery, but it would keep him away from everyone he worked with before; the ones that did this to him.”

Leo nodded. “I’ll run it past Tim, but I can’t see him objecting.”

She had to fight back a smile. While she knew it could be a long shot, the Grimaldi boy might just be what Reid needed to turn a new leaf. It didn’t always happen, but sometimes there was just a person who could make someone, even someone as outwardly cold was Dr. Oliver, open up to them. Hell, she herself had probably told a prisoner by the name of Ryan O’Reily more about herself than she ever should have. So if it took Luke working side by side with him every day to melt down those icy walls even a little bit, it would be worth it. “Thank you, Leo. I hope we’re able to work everything out. Now, I should go talk to Pete, let her know his initial status, probable recovery rate…” she trailed off, waiting for him to formally dismiss her.

“Go ahead,” he said, watching her leave before letting out another sigh. He ran a madhouse, wherein nothing ever seemed to go right.

Meanwhile, Gloria made her way through some hallways and corridors to get to Sister Peter-Marie’s office. She knocked, getting Pete’s attention, before letting herself in. She greeted Tobias Beecher, Pete’s office assistant, before sitting down in a chair before her desk.

“What brings you in here today?” Sister Pete asked. She would see Gloria every once in a while about some patient.

“I wanted to let you know that Luciano woke up not too long ago. He’s in pain physically, but you can tell that he’s ashamed about everything that’s happened.”

“Can you blame him?” Beecher asked from his seat at the computer. 

Both women looked to him before Sister Pete said, “Tobias, why don’t you take a break for a bit?”

“So the adults can have their conversation?” Both women continued to look at him, so he rolled his eyes and stood up. “I just think that I would know better than most what he’s going through.”

“And maybe we’ll ask for your first hand advice later, but right now, this conversation should be confidential.”

“Whatever you say,” he mumbled as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

“We wanted to set up a time for him to come and talk to you, or for you to come to the hospital wing to see him.”

“The sooner I can see him and evaluate him, the better.”

Gloria nodded. “He doesn’t seem as bad as Schibetta was, but he could already be bottling things up and it wouldn’t take much to set him off.”

Sister Pete agreed. There was no way of knowing for sure, though, until she did actually have a chance to speak with him openly and candidly. “How’s he doing now?”

“He’s back asleep,” Gloria told her. “But I think by tomorrow he’ll be staying awake longer and will probably be anxious to get out of there.” Most prisoners, when in the hospital ward, wanted to get out of there as soon as they could, as they felt like sitting ducks. There was nowhere for them to go if someone wanted to hurt them, even though there were guards and staff that tried their damndest to prevent any harm coming to those under their care.

“Ok. When do you think he’ll be released?” Pete asked.

“It’s hard to say right now. But he’ll be released to Em City.”

“Really?”

“I heard it straight from Leo,” Gloria said. “It’ll be better for him, anyway. Hopefully,” she added. Emerald City was more highly monitored than any other unit in the building. There were no cells, but there were glass pods, so guards could see into them all day, every day. Of course, there were still issues between people, there always would be, but the men that hurt Luke weren’t there. The only time they would see each other would be meal time, and they wouldn’t even _have_ to see one another if they just avoided one another. 

“Where would he go?” Pete asked, looking somewhat concerned. She was glad that he would be out of Gen Pop, he was one of the very lucky few to get out of there, out of direct harm, and into Em City, but there were still threats in there.

“That I don’t know,” Gloria said with a hint of regret. She and the Sister, as well as Oz’s priest, Father Mukada, had a great deal of compassion for the prisoners. They didn’t want to see them hurt or threatened for far different reasons than the folks in charge didn’t want to see them hurt. Sure, they cared about how news affected the prison, as that affected their jobs, but they cared about them as _people_. “I’m sure Tim will take care of it,” she added, hoping she sounded as though she had some faith.

“I sure hope so,” Pete agreed, shaking her head a little.

~~~

The following day, Luke was more awake and aware of his surroundings. And he knew that he didn’t want to be there any longer. “I need to get out of here,” he said when Dr. Nathan brought him his next dose of pain meds.

“You’re not going anywhere,” she told him. “Not until you’re better.”

“I’m _fine_ ” he insisted, but when he tried to push himself up, he felt every little pain shoot throughout his body.

“No, you’re obviously not. I’m the one with the medical degree here, so I’ll tell you when you can leave.”

“You can’t just keep me here!”

“I can and I will.” She dropped her voice and added, “You’re in prison, Luke, you don’t have anywhere else that you can go.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” he muttered, leaning his body back into the comfort of the pillows. “I don’t want to be here.”

“Here or Oz?” she asked.

“Both,” he replied.

“Again, you don’t have much choice. Just listen to me and do what I say and we’ll have you out of here and in Em City as soon as we can.”

Luke looked at her for a second as it registered with him what she just said. “I’m going to Emerald City?”

“No one told you?” she asked. She realized then that she would know if anyone had come to see him, and no one had. Well, she broke the news to him whether she was supposed to, or not.

“No,” he answered. He didn’t quite know what to make of it. He was grateful that he wouldn’t be going back to Gen Pop, back to Sir and the people that did this to him, but he didn’t want the move to put an even _bigger_ target on his back. He could be seen as a coward for asking to be moved to Emerald City. Although, there were rumors that McManus had wanted him there from the beginning, and it wasn’t often that anyone got moved _into_ Em City.

“Well… that’s where you’ll be going. I don’t know if McManus is planning on talking to you, or if you’ll be escorted there by a CO, but when you’re better, you’ll be headed there.”

“Don’t I have to be psychoanalyzed first?” he asked. He’d overheard her and the other doctor talking about it when they thought he was asleep. He was almost out of it, but he hadn’t quite fallen asleep yet.

“You will be talking to Sister Pete, yes,” she answered. “You went through a lot a few days ago, Luke. It’ll be a good thing to have someone to talk to.”

He didn’t say anything back to her.

~~~

Sister Peter Marie didn’t often go into the hospital ward, but she wanted to see what sort of progress, if any, Luke was making. She walked to his bedside and placed both hands on the edge of his mattress. “Luke?” she said.

He turned his head to her. “Yes?”

“I’m just here to see how you’re doing,” she told him. “I want to talk to you later in my office, but for now, I’m making this a quick visit.”

“Ok,” he replied, not knowing what she could possibly do to “examine” him in a brief visit. Maybe his brief replies in a rude tone would indicate to her that he was mentally unstable and would have to be sent to the loony bin. “Are you just gonna stare at me all day?” he asked after a little while when neither of them said anything.

“I’m not staring,” she said. “I’m just observing.”

“I’m a fucking vegetable here, there’s not much to observe.”

Giving Luke a little nod, and what he thought looked like the start of a smile, she turned and left. She met Gloria in the office, the other doctor sitting there, as well. “Luke’s mind is still very sharp,” she told them.

“That’s a good sign,” Gloria said. She remembered when Schibetta was raped, how he’d turned into a blubbering mess who could hardly form a sentence. Of course, Schibetta was used to being in charge and thought he was infallible, despite the fact that he was locked up to begin with. Luke was different than that.

“I think he’ll be ok to go to Emerald City once he’s released from here. I still want to speak with him in my office alone first, though.”

“Of course,” Gloria agreed. 

Reid sat there, listening, not adding any further thoughts to the discussion. That was until they got to one part of the conversation when Pete brought up the fact that Luke had been working in the dress factory with the same men that likely put him in the hospital ward.

“I suggested to Leo that Luke work here.”

“You did what?” Reid asked.

“I asked the warden if Luke could work in the hospital ward once he was feeling well enough to work. That way we could monitor him, while at the same time, it would keep him away from the factory.”

“You think that’s a good idea? He was put in here because he was _gang raped and beaten half to death_.” He had no idea why he was putting her idea down. He wanted to see Luke. He enjoyed seeing Luke. But there was a part of him that knew what he was already feeling for Luke, this compassion for him, the thoughts that he was beautiful, were completely inappropriate and it was _that_ part of him that was fighting this decision.

“And if he goes back to the dress factory, he’ll probably be gang raped again and this time beaten all the way to death,” Gloria replied with a little bite in her voice. “Besides, Leo already told me it would be ok. Tim also gave me his ok.”

“So it’ll be happening no matter what?”

“Yes,” she answered. “I’d say I’m sorry if you have a problem with it, but I’m really not sorry at all.”

“I guess we just wait and see if Luke is ok with it.”

“Do you really think he’d rather be making dresses with the men that raped him?”

“And do you really think that he’ll want to be around the hospital bed that those men put him in every day as a constant reminder of what happened to him?” Reid asked.

“Since when do you care about what patients think?” Gloria responded. She knew, she saw the way Reid looked at Luke when he was first brought in.

“I care far more than you think I do,” he admitted. “They’re my patients and I go to great lengths to assure that any patient I have gets the best care available to them, be it in a prison or not.” With that, he stood up and left the two women in the office.

“Believe it or not, he’s actually gotten better,” Gloria said to Pete as she watched Reid’s back as he walked away from them.

“I believe it.” As a psychologist and a nun, Sister Pete was able to read a person like a book a mile away.

~~~

No one could deny that Luke was a fighter. He did everything he possibly could to get better and get himself out of the hospital ward. But get out he finally did. His wounds were mostly healed, though he did experience some lingering aches and pains.

A CO escorted him out and led him to Sister Pete’s office. She let him in and they both sat. “You must be happy you’re getting out of there,” she said. 

Luke nodded his head a couple times. “Yeah. Even though it won’t be much longer until I’m back there. Every single day.”

“Luke, it’ll be a good experience. You’ll be able to help others—”

“When they’re in the same sort of situation I was?” Luke asked her.

“When they’re in their times of need,” she finished as though he hadn’t cut her off. “Luke. What happened to you was horrible and that’s not the kind of thing that you can keep bottled up inside you. You need to talk about it.”

“What is there to talk about? You all know what happened. Everyone knows what happened.”

“That doesn’t matter, Luke. I want to know what you’re feeling up here,” she said as she pointed to her head, “and in here,” she went on, putting her hand over her heart.

“I feel like this conversation is pretty pointless. Imagine how you’d feel if—” He cut himself off, not wanting to actually voice what happened to him out loud, not to Sister Pete, not to himself, not to anyone.

She leaned forward over her desk a little, not in a way that appeared threatening, just trying to get through to him that she would always be there for him. “You can talk to me, Luke. I’m here for you. I _want_ to help you. But you just need to let me. You need to trust me.”

“Trust you to spill my guts out to you?”

“I’m not saying that the trust has to happen right away. But remember, not only am I a psychologist, I’m also a nun. If anyone could be trusted, it’s me. If you’re not ready to talk—”

Once again, Luke cut her off. “Are you gonna send me to the loony bin if I don’t tell you everything?”

“Not at all,” she replied. “You’ve got a strong will. You won’t let anything break you.”

Luke looked at her curiously, then very hesitantly said, “I nearly did.” He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, leaning back in his chair. 

“It’s ok. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to tell me,” Pete assured him. She was used to this behavior by now; she’d seen it hundreds of times over. So many men wanted to let out their feelings, but they didn’t know how, or they felt that men weren’t _supposed_ to have feelings. But her soothing tone and gentle ways often had them thinking of her as a true confidant. Some more than others, yes, but that was to be expected.

“You wouldn’t understand,” he then muttered, sitting up straight and steeling his expression.

“I’m not trying to,” she then told him. “I’m trying to help _you_ understand.”

“To understand what? That there are guys out there that want me dead?” Luke asked, before even realizing he was getting carried away. “Are we done here?”

“If you feel as though you have nothing else to say.” When Luke stood and began walking to the door, she added, “There’ll be a spot for you here tomorrow at the same time, if you want it.”

~~~

The CO was waiting for him outside of Pete’s office, ready to escort him to his new cellblock. Upon arrival to Emerald City, he was handed bed sheets and some toilet paper and was led along further, waiting for the gaits to open for them before finally he was shown inside the unit. It looked like no other prison unit he’d ever seen. The metal bars of cells were replaced with the Plexiglas walls of the pods. There were two floors of pods with a guard station right front and center. “This is your new cell,” the CO told him as they stood right in front of it. “Put your shit down now, then get your ass back out here. We have to go see McManus.”

Luke wondered if he talked to everyone that way, then figured if he had to work in this place, dealing with prisoners day in, day out, he’d probably sound like that, too. He placed his things on the empty bed then came right back out, following the guard up the stairs (feeling everyone’s eyes on him) and to Tim’s office.

“Come in,” came a voice from inside. 

“Need me to stay?” the CO asked upon opening the door. 

“No. Go,” Tim said, shooing the CO away as he shuffled some papers around. “Take a seat,” he then said, addressing Luke. “I’ll make this brief. Here in Em City, we do things a little differently. I’m sure you noticed that we have glass pods. That allows our guards to watch you at all times of the day. You have more freedoms here than in other units, but at the same time, there are more restrictions.”

Luke sat and listened, nodding his head as McManus spoke.

“Here, we have our prisoners split into groups. There’s the Muslims, Christians, Aryans, the list goes on… You’ll be podmates with Fiona.”

That name did catch Luke’s attention. “Fiona? I thought there were only… men in this prison?” he asked. He’d heard about the one female in lock up in death row, Shirley Bellinger, but he didn’t know there were others.

“Transgendered,” Tim answered. “They can show you the ropes, show you how things work over here.”

“Oh,” Luke muttered. This was going to be an experience.

“We’ll give you a few days to get adjusted here and feel better before you start your job,” he explained. “As you know, you’ll be doing shifts in the hospital ward. You’re also scheduled to meet with Sister Pete every Wednesday and Friday.”

“Oh,” Luke repeated. Apparently the nun thought he had more to tell and thought she would actually be able to get it out of him.

“Any questions?” Tim asked. 

Luke just shook his head side to side. He saw Tim motion the guard back in and he was soon being escorted back down into the heart of Em City. When he got back there, there was a man who looked like a woman wearing a very tight black shirt and pants. That must be his podmate. 

“Hi, sweetie, you must be Luke. I’m Fiona.”

Luke felt the guard leaving him alone with his new podmate and he felt overwhelmed, yet oddly more comfortable around Fiona than he ever did around Sir. At least he doubted Fiona would force himself upon him every night.

The first day in Em City went about as well as one could expect, considering it was a prison. He did manage to get in a shower wherein no one came onto him. He got called a fag here and there, but that he could take. As long as they just stuck to the name calling and didn’t try to prove their point to anyone by making him their bitch. He thought that if that happened, he honestly would just snap.

When Monday rolled around, Luke was told that he was to start his shift in the hospital ward. He had no idea what he’d even be able to do. It wasn’t like he’d trained like nurses and he certainly was no doctor. For all he knew, he’d be mopping the floors and cleaning bed pans. 

Luke got to the ward and headed into the office, where he was expecting Dr. Nathan. But he got the other doctor instead. 

“Are you starting here today?” Dr. Oliver asked him as he reclined at the desk chair.

“I’m supposed to,” Luke replied, still standing by the door frame. “Do you know anything about what I’m doing?”

“If I did, I’d be telling you to do it already.”

“Well, do you know where Dr. Nathan is?” he asked.

“I don’t keep tabs on where she is at all times,” Reid said.

Just then Gloria walked up behind Luke and greeted him. “Good morning, Luke. Come in, take a seat. I’ll tell you a little about what you’ll be doing here.”

Reid made to stand up and leave those two to it, but Gloria insisted that he stay, since he would be playing a vital role in Luke’s work, at least for the time being.

“He’s going to be shadowing _me_?” Reid asked when the plan was revealed. “Why me and not you?”

“Because you’re going to be in the AIDS ward again and he can distribute the medicine and talk to them. I’m doing checkups today and he can’t do that,” she answered. 

Once again, Reid left the office feeling extremely underutilized… and now he had himself a little shadow. He quickly gathered the medicine, distributing it into cups and then placing those cups on a tray.

Luke followed the doctor into the AIDS ward, overwhelmed by the sadness he could feel in there. Everyone in there knew that today could be their last. “Why are you just standing there?” Reid asked, waiting to hand the medicine tray off.

“Sorry,” Luke apologized. It wasn’t that long ago that he was called into Dr. Nathan’s office to be told the results of his own blood work after everything with Sir and all the men in the gym. He had never felt such a sense of relief when she told him that he was clean and clear. Luke believed it to be a miracle that he escaped without catching something. It could have very well been him in here one day had things turned out differently. He grabbed the tray of medicine and then looked at the doctor again.

“Well, distribute it. Everyone here has the same medication.”

“Oh… ok.” Luke walked to the first bed and could feel Dr. Oliver’s gaze on him, watching him. “Do I… give it to them?”

With a roll of his eyes, Reid headed towards the young man. “Watch. I’m not going over this again. You want to make sure they’re sitting up if they aren’t already. Then get the medicine and a cup of water and give it to them.” He demonstrated for Luke what to do, though he took more care than his harsh tone would actually indicate. “Now you try.”

Luke moved over to the next bedside, setting the tray of medicine down on a table so he could handle the patient better. “Hey,” he said in a low voice to the man whose neck and back he was pushing on gently as he sat him up.

Reid watched Luke’s every move. He saw the way that he interacted with them was something he admittedly wasn’t expecting. He thought Luke would want to go in and get the job done as quickly as possible, wanting to get out of there and not having to interact with anyone. He thought he’d be angry at having to deal with others after what happened to him, but… he wasn’t. He was talking to them, asking them their names, even if they didn’t reply or tried to not take their medication. All in all, Reid was highly impressed with the way that Luke carried himself around them.

Distributing the medication took a little longer than normal since Luke was talking to everyone, but it all went smoothly. And Reid had to admit (if only to himself) that it was nice watching Luke. Nice watching Luke interacting with people, not _just_ watching Luke, he had to supply to his own thoughts.

The time seemed to fly by, much quicker than every day beforehand, Reid noted. That didn’t _really_ surprise him, though. Luke was good company, even if they didn’t talk much.


	3. Chapter 3

It was the end of the week when they were heading out of the AIDS ward, Luke finished with his shift, when Reid said, “You don’t seem like a bad person.” It had always been his figuring that anyone in prison was a terrible person who had deserved to be rotting away for whatever they had done. Even working here he saw just how horrible people could be, like the people that had done this to Luke.

Luke turned his head to face the doctor, a strange, confused look on his face. “I’m not,” he replied. “Did you think I would be? Is that why it was never you who came to check on me when I was lying right over there?” Luke asked. “Is that why you’re always so quick to get in and do what needs to be done before you leave? Because everyone here is a bad person?”

“That’s not what I was implying. I’m here to do a job, not to get to know everyone.”

“But you do think that everyone in here _is_ a bad person. Otherwise you wouldn’t have said that to me. Maybe you _should_ take a little time to get to know people.”

“I have no intention of doing my job any differently.”

Luke had no idea how anyone so crass could ever be a doctor. “Didn’t you come from some bigwig hospital before you came here?” he asked. “I remember hearing things about you when you first showed up here. I hadn’t been here that long myself… I’d heard around my unit that there was a new doctor that was all but forced to come here… I know how bad it is, I actually felt bad for you. And you’re not even an inmate,” he let out a sad laugh as he shook his head. 

Now Reid didn’t know what to think. He knew that he’d always been… rather tough to get along with, but he was actually attempting to say something _nice_ to the young man and it somehow backfired on him. “I was just stating a fact.”

“That I _seem_ to be a good person? For a smart man, Dr. Oliver, you have no common sense. Now I need to go see Sister Pete.”

Reid was rather disappointed when Luke left without even saying that he’ll see him on Monday. Every day, Luke had said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He had always replied with nothing more than a “Yup,” but not having Luke say anything at all? It left him feeling oddly bereft.

~~~

“Luke, you came,” Sister Pete said as the young blonde took a seat in her office. When they parted on Wednesday, Luke hadn’t said much and she didn’t know if he would be coming back, or not. She was rather glad he showed up.

Luke shrugged. “I needed to get away…” he mumbled.

Sister Pete had become an expert in hearing mumbled words loud and clear in her time at Oswald. “Get away from what?”

“Dr. Oliver,” he told her after some hesitation.

“And what’s so bad about Dr. Oliver?” she asked.

“Today he said that I didn’t seem like a bad person… as though by default, I _am_ just because I ended up here. I never killed anyone, I never hurt anyone…”

“It sounds to me like Dr. Oliver was trying to make conversation with you.” She had heard about how determined Reid was to be the one to get in there and take charge to help Luke when the young man was brought into the hospital ward with his many injuries. It seemed as though Luke didn’t know that that even happened. “I’m sure he had good intentions behind what he said.”

“Yeah, that I didn’t turn out to be the scum that he thought I was going to be? How sweet and thoughtful of him,” Luke retorted with a roll of his eyes.

“Luke, you’re angry, and you have every right—”

“Are you giving me that bullshit again?” Luke asked, cutting the sister off. He was close to getting up and leaving, and he swore that if she said that to him _one more time_ , he would leave and not come back for another of her peace, love and happiness sessions. 

“I was just saying that it’s ok to be angry. But you’re taking it out on the wrong person. Dr. Oliver has been there for you since the start.”

“What are you talking about? He never came to check on me when I was still in there. And now he’s telling me that I’m not actually a dirt bag like he thought I’d be.”

“When you’re unconscious, there’s a lot happening around you that you don’t know about,” Sister Pete told him.

Luke, who had been ready to get up and leave just before now sat back into his seat. “What do you mean?”

“You think Dr. Oliver may have been judging you based on the fact that you’re in prison? Well, you’re making judgments of your own regarding him in turn. Gloria told me all about what happened. When you were brought into the hospital ward and he saw you, he was the one that stepped up to help you.”

Now Luke felt more confused than anything. “How come I never saw him, then? I was there for a long time and the most he ever did was walk past my bed and maybe look in my direction… oh, and he noticed that I was awake.”

“He has a rough exterior, but maybe you should just… talk to him. He’s not the bad guy, Luke,” she said, keeping her eye contact with him from across her desk.

Luke didn’t know what to make of things. The doctor _was_ trying to say something nice, he supposed. And had he really been there to help him? He couldn’t believe that… but what if it was true? Then he realized he had gotten lost in his thoughts and that Sister Pete was still talking to him.

“I know you have bigger things going on in your life right now. And if you ever need to talk about what happened, I’m here to listen. The thought is scary, but you can tell someone who did this to you. McManus or the warden, they’d help you.”

“What would they do? Put them in prison? Like that’ll do any good. If anything, it’ll just put more of a target on my back.”

Pete knew that would be a problem, it always was. No one wanted to confess such things since they were _all_ inside. The only place to run was protective custody, and it wasn’t like they could stay there forever. “Think about it, then? The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to bring those men to justice… in the mean time, though, there is a group that I would urge you to attend,” she said to him.

“What kind of a group?”

“Every week, I moderate a group session with other inmates who have been raped or abused sexually here in or out of Oz.”

“I’m not going to some group where I’ll have to relive everything that’s happened,” he refused outright.

“Luke, it would help you see that there are others who have been through similar things as you. It hurts. It’ll hurt for a long time. But they all know what you’re going through. They’ve been there. And they won’t judge you for what happened.”

“Is that just another way of trying to get me to confess names to you? Because I won’t.”

“By not telling anyone, you’re letting them win. You’re still letting them control you.”

“Don’t tell me what decisions I need to make. I’m the one that has to live in a cell for the next… god knows how many years. The last thing I want or need to do is to draw more attention to myself.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, not wanting him to be upset, but wanting him to actually face the truth of the matter. “I was just making a suggestion, that’s all.”

“Is time up yet? Can I leave?” he asked, looking around in an attempt to find a clock.

“You can leave if you’d like…” As Luke stood, she said, “My door will be open next week… and the group meets on Tuesdays at two if you wanted to come by.”

He left of her office, wishing that she would just _stop_. He didn’t want to talk about it, and he especially didn’t want to talk about it in front of others, no matter what they had been through.

Upon his return to Emerald City, one of the other inmates caught his attention. With a little jerk of the head, Luke followed. He knew he most likely shouldn’t. He’d heard whispers about Ryan O’Reily, but, frankly, he didn’t care. When he was in Ryan’s pod, he was asked, “You’re lookin’ a little down. What’s wrong?”

“Everything. Look where we are.”

“You’re lucky, though. You got moved outta Gen Pop. That doesn’t happen much. I should know; I was one of the few.”

Luke didn’t say anything in reply. He had no idea why O’Reily would come to him to talk to, of all people.

“I just thought it looked like you might need a little pick-me-up, that’s all.” He said it reaching under his pillow and pulling out a rolled joint.

“Where’d you get that?” Luke asked.

“I have my connections… and you never know when you might need it on a rainy day,” Ryan told him with a grin. “And, hey, if this isn’t your thing… I know this guy who makes his own moonshine down in Gen Pop.”

“I don’t need anything that I can’t pay back.”

“Who said anything about paying me back? Think of this as… my good deed to humanity,” Ryan replied, holding the joint between his fingers. “This one’s on me. What do ya say?”

Luke said nothing, just reached out his hand and the joint was passed to him. From God knows where, O’Reily pulled out a lighter and lit it. When Luke took the first drag, he felt his eyelids flutter shut. “Fuck, I wish I had this when I was still laid up in bed,” he said as he let out a breath of smoke. He cast a sidelong glance at the Irishman and asked, “How’s your buddy making moonshine?”

“Set up a distillery in the toilet. I never said it was a pretty process, but it gets the job done.”

With a shrug and a little nod, Luke agreed, then took another drag, already feeling the effects. “Can’t say I blame him… Oz could drive anyone to drink.”

“You’re tellin’ me. You haven’t even been here a year.”

“Feels like I’ve been here for twenty.” He shook his head, taking one more drag before handing the joint back to Ryan. “Thank you for that. I didn’t mean to be a nuisance… but I should go.”

“Hey, I was the one that asked you here. But if you gotta go…” he trailed off and gestured to the door.

Luke gave him a small, half smile before heading out of the pod. But before he reached the door, he stopped. “How much for some of that moonshine?” he asked.

Ryan was quick to name the price his buddy asked for (and included a little cut for himself as he was the one doing the marketing) and they had a deal.

~~~

It was on Sunday that Luke met with Ryan once again. There was an exchange made and Luke found himself in his pod with a mason jar filled with some highly potent moonshine. He didn’t know when he could drink it; he was still sharing his pod with Fiona. She was out at the moment, though, but he didn’t want to start drinking until later, when it was nice and dark and no one could see him. He wished that he had the drink back when he was still cellmates with Sammy. At least then he could drink the pain and humiliation away, or simply be too drunk to even care how the man was violating him that day. 

The jar, topped off to the brim, was tucked away neatly behind a spare roll of toilet paper. That night, Luke waited until the guards passed on their rounds before hopping out of bed. He grabbed the jar, having to hold back a cough as the smell of the moonshine invaded his nostrils. The liquid burned on the way down, all the way down into his belly, but he didn’t care. He wanted that burn, because he knew that with enough of that burn came the moment when there was no pain at all anymore. 

He didn’t know how long it took but he managed to finish off the entire jar that night. He was lucky his bunk was on the bottom, because he didn’t think he could manage to climb up to the top. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was passed out.

It was the first night in Oz where he didn’t dream at all, no thoughts of his home life, no nightmares involving Sir, no nothing.

Waking up wasn’t near as pleasant as the going to sleep part was. That part had been particularly easy. But when the alarms went off and the guards were shouting, Luke found himself still quite drunk. That had been some strong moonshine and it was still working its way through his system.

When the guards came around to do the morning count, he was exhausted and still a little drunk. He did have this little thought spring up in the back of his hazy mind that he hoped he didn’t reek of the alcohol he consumed the night before.

Somehow he got through count without being pulled aside by a guard and sent to see McManus. He didn’t need to get into that kind of trouble and possibly be sent back into Gen Pop.

But when he got to work that morning, he wondered if facing McManus would have been better than what happened. He walked into the office, where he saw Dr. Oliver sitting at the desk, reading over some files. The doctor glanced up at him and said, “You’re drunk.”

“Am not,” Luke replied. 

“Yes, you are. And I can smell it on you from here.” Reid stood up and headed towards Luke, a scowl on his face. “Are you kidding me, Luke?”

“What?”

“You’re coming here _drunk_!” He wanted to shout at the young man, shake him, but all he could do was speak in low, yet harsh tones so the patients couldn’t hear him. “Do you really expect me to let you work here with sick patients while you’ve got booze on your breath and coming out of your pores?”

Luke just shrugged.

“You don’t even know the half of what I did for you while you were under my care,” Reid told him, then realized that Luke probably didn’t know any of what he had done for him since he didn’t want him to know that he cared. Cared more than he should have. And now Luke was showing him that he didn’t even care about his own life, his own well being. “I don’t want to see you throwing your life away.”

“It’s just a little alcohol.”

“That you’re not supposed to have in here,” Reid reminded him.

“Can’t you just drop it?” Luke asked, rolling his eyes as he rocked on his feet a bit.

“Leave.”

“Wait, what?”

“I want you to leave. You’re not working here today.”

“What am I supposed to do?!” Luke asked him. “I can’t go back to Em City!”

“Then go back to the dress factory where you came from. You’re not working with my patients, not like this.”

Luke was about five seconds away from throwing a temper tantrum. A drunken one, at that. “You can’t just send me away!”

“I see you as unfit to work, so yes, I can send you away,” Reid told him.

“You can’t! At least let me stay here in the office.”

“So the patients can see your drunk ass passed out on my chair? I don’t think so.”

A panicked look crossed Luke’s face. McManus couldn’t know that he was drunk, because if McManus knew, the warden would find out, and if the warden found out, he would be sent to Gen Pop to suffer with those men that put him into the hospital to begin with. “I can’t go back there,” Luke said.

“Back… to Gen Pop?” Reid asked. That was the last placed he wanted to see Luke go. He was on his way to recovery before he managed to get his hands on that booze, but if he were to go back to Gen Pop, he had no doubt that Luke’s downward spiral would continue until one day he’d given himself alcohol poisoning or overdosed on some drug or another when the booze just wasn’t enough. 

Luke nodded his head in answer, looking so forlorn and depressed, as if he knew that Dr. Oliver was about to send him off to go speak with the warden.

“Fine, stay here. Drink some water. Don’t throw up on anything. I’ll be back in a bit to check on you and see if you’ve improved in condition.” 

And that was when Luke did something that neither of them were expecting. He moved in close and pressed his lips to the doctor’s.

Reid could taste the bitter sting of the alcohol as Luke’s lips worked against his. Then he realized just what was happening. He pushed Luke away, both of them looking shocked. “You kissed me,” was all Reid could think to say.

It was in that moment that Luke thought he completely ruined the second chance he got. Now he was most definitely going to be sent to see the warden.

But the doctor said nothing. He still looked a bit dazed, however. “Just… sit there. And don’t move,” he added before leaving the room. When he realized Luke didn’t have any water like he told him to have, he returned with a water bottle full, telling him to drink it slowly. 

Dr. Nathan came into the office not long after Dr. Oliver left, giving Luke a curious look. “Luke? Why are you in here and not with Dr. Oliver?”

He held up the water bottle and muttered, “Not feeling well,” before taking a little swig.

Gloria gave him a little smile of understanding before going about doing what it was she needed to do. She was soon out of the office, leaving Luke alone once more. As he sat and drank his water, he couldn’t help but think about how _stupid_ he was. He was stupid for letting himself get strung along by and even help Damian peddle his black market goods. He was stupid for getting caught. He was stupid for listening to Ryan O’Reily, of all people. He was stupid for drinking a whole mason jar full of 100 proof alcohol. And he was most definitely stupid for _kissing Dr. Oliver_.

He felt himself getting a headache from all the thinking he was doing (though he was sure the alcohol wasn’t helping matters). 

At least he could be thankful for the fact that the doctor hadn’t thrown him out of the office completely after the kiss. 

The time dragged on and on while he sat in the office, eventually falling asleep in the chair.

“Wake up,” Reid said when Luke’s shift was over. “Luke. Wake up,” he repeated.

Luke finally awoke when he felt a hand shaking his shoulder. His head was pounding like a son of a bitch and his body ached all over from the awkward position he’d fallen asleep in. “Huh?” he asked groggily, looking up and seeing Dr. Oliver.

“It’s lunch. Go get some food. It’ll help with you… issue.”

The young man looked embarrassed as the doctor spoke to him. “Yes, doctor,” he muttered, standing up somewhat shakily. 

“Don’t ever pull a goddamn stunt like that again.” At first, Luke didn’t know if he meant the drinking thing or the kissing thing, but then he continued, “If you ever walk into here drunk or smelling of booze again, I won’t hesitate to send you off to speak with Warden Glynn. Now go.”

Luke nodded, wondering if Dr. Oliver was going to mention anything about the kiss. When he left the office and nothing more was spoken, he couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t mention it at all. He only said don’t get drunk again, he never said not to kiss him again. 

He himself didn’t even know _why_ he kissed the doctor. Honestly, he didn’t think he’d ever want to be close to another man in any physical capacity again after everything that happened to him since he came into the prison. But there was something so appealing about the man, something that was, despite the hard exterior he showed the world, comforting. Plus, not only had Sister Peter Marie mentioned it, but the doctor himself in his state of upset said that he was the one that took care of him and truly stepped up to the plate when he’d been wheeled into the ward.

He didn’t think anything could actually come of it, Dr. Oliver would most likely continue to push him away, stating it was an inappropriate relationship, or that he wasn’t gay or wasn’t interested, but it wouldn’t stop Luke from having feelings for the doctor, even if he had to keep them buried deep inside him. 

A night filled with dreams of kissing the doctor that saved his life was a far more appealing thought than nightmares of his attack.

~~~

Meanwhile, Reid sat down in the chair in the office, a baffled expression on his face as his mind raced over what happened. He pulled out the lunch he brought, a sandwich double stuffed with mayo and some browning leaves of lettuce and some rather bland tomato slices. 

For a while, he just _looked_ at the sandwich, and that was when Gloria joined him. “You ok?” she asked. Normally, Reid would have inhaled his sandwich already.

“Yeah… I’m ok.” He barely even believed himself, and he _always_ spoke the truth, no matter how harsh.

“I haven’t been working with you for too long, but I think I know you well enough by now to know when you’re bullshitting me,” she said as she sat across him.

He took a moment to think before asking, “Have you ever had a patient that was attracted to you?”

To that, Gloria actually laughed. “I’m one of the few women that work in a prison filled with men. I don’t know if most cases I would call attraction… more like misplaced affections or horniness.”

“Most cases?”

“In all my years here, there’s been one exception. Ryan O’Reily. He’s the only man in here to tell me he loved me and I actually believe him,” she admitted.

“So,” Reid began, glancing between his sandwich and her, “have you ever been attracted back to any of them?”

That was a rather touchy subject when it came to Ryan. She truly believed she loved him, and there was some part of her that thought the same of him, despite all the horrible things that he’d done in the name of love. 

Her lack of response was really all the answer he needed.

“Why are you even asking that?” She looked at him curiously, wondering what could have brought such a thing on. “You know the only female inmate we have is Shirley Bellinger and she’s on death row for murdering her daughter.” 

Reid raised an eyebrow at her. He’d heard what O’Reily had done to her husband, after all. “It’s not Bellinger.”

“It’s not me, is it?” she then asked. “I tried dating Tim and—”

“No,” Reid cut her off before he heard anything further about her and McManus. “I’m gay, Gloria,” he told her finally so she’d at least stop naming off every woman in Oz.

“Oh. So it’s Luke.” Giving her a look that asked _how do you know_?, she answered, “You let him stay here in the office even though he was sick and kept checking in on him. Plus I saw the way you looked at him when you first saw him. I’m not dumb, Dr. Oliver.”

He gave her a little nod, then finally bit into his sandwich, still mulling things over.

~~~

It was an interesting time after that drunken kiss. Luke and Reid still worked side by side, but they never brought up that day, not even the part about Luke being drunk, much less the kiss. But they managed to plug away at it, trying to not let things get overly awkward between them, since neither wanted the other to know that they wanted nothing more than to crawl into one of the unused beds in the ward and pick up right where they left off in the office.

Since that day, Luke became a bit more diligent about his sessions with Sister Pete. He even agreed to go to one of her group sessions with other victims of sexual violence. The first time, he hardly said more than his name, but he did listen, and he found it to be somewhat reassuring to know that he really _wasn’t_ the only one. 

The second session, he opened up a little more and he knew that everyone actually understood where he was coming from. They all had to have known what happened to him, word always traveled fast around Oz, but it was something else completely for him to actually talk about it. One day, at a private session, he even told Sister Pete that he was ready to say who attacked him.

However, he found that he more he talked about his attack, the more he opened up, the more he realized that if he went through life never being with another man, then he would let them win. And he wasn’t about to do that. The only problem was that the man he wanted to be with was also his boss. 

Two months after the kiss, things seemed to grow slightly more tense between Reid and Luke. One day things were just business as usual, then the next Luke noticed that something was off. It continued like that for three days before Luke actually said something. “What is going on with you?” he asked when their shift was over and Luke was supposed to be leaving for lunch.

Reid figured that these past few days he hadn’t been lying to Luke… he just hadn’t told him anything yet. “I got a call.”

“Ok?” Luke replied, confused.

“From my hospital. They’ve been keeping up with the reports that Gloria and the warden send and they told me that I can start on Monday.”

“But today’s Friday!” Luke said, suddenly feeling bereft. Just from knowing that the doctor wouldn’t be there come Monday.

“I’m aware of the date, Luke.”

“So, what? This is it? You were just gonna leave here without even saying anything?”

Reid shrugged. “Everyone here knew that I was only here until I got a call from my hospital taking me back.”

And then it happened again. Luke was right in front of Reid, their lips and bodies pressing together. After two months without those lips against his own, Luke had been longing for them. The dreams he hoped for had come to him, night after night, each dream better than the last. Each one involving the doctor.

“You took care of me, you saved me and you weren’t going to tell me, were you?” Luke asked when he pulled back.

Reid locked eyes with the young man and shook his head slightly side to side.

“You didn’t know to let me or anyone know that you actually cared about me.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be down at lunch now?” Gloria asked as she walked into the office to grab her own lunch that she was planning on bringing into the break room.

Luke took a step back from Reid and muttered something neither Reid nor Gloria could hear. 

“He was just leaving. But if you wanted to come back later we can talk some more. Just before dinner,” he suggested.

“Ok,” Luke replied, sounding surprised at the invitation. He thought that would be the end of it.

Gloria eyed them both suspiciously, eyes following Luke as he left, and before she could even grab her lunch, Reid came clean about the phone call he received. 

Luke was back in Em City right after lunch, joining in the crowd with their headphones on watching Miss Sally’s Schoolyard on TV. He was never really as into the show as everyone else, but now even less so. 

Ryan noticed his mood and slipped into a chair behind him. “You’re lookin’ kinda down,” he said. “Need a pick-me-up?”

Shaking his head, Luke reminded him, “Your last pick-me-up nearly got me sent back to Gen Pop. I gotta pass. Besides, I’m going to the medical ward late for a check up. They couldn’t do it while I was working there,” he added, hoping that O’Reily would buy the cover.

Shrugging, Ryan gave him a little pat on the back and headed off to go try and find someone else to peddle something to.

About thirty minutes before dinner, Luke headed out of Em City to go back to the medical ward. If Dr. Oliver was going to be leaving that night, he at least wanted to say goodbye properly, especially after all he’d done for him.

“You made it,” Reid said upon seeing Luke.

“Yeah. I couldn’t let you go yet. You’ve helped me so much and… I didn’t know it at first. You seemed so cold towards me, never even stopping to read my chart when I was still out there. But now I know. And… and I owe you my _life_ for not sending my to McManus or Glynn… that day. If I were back there…” he trailed off, not even wanting to think about what would happen if he were to go back to Gen Pop.

“Luke, you’re strong. You’d still be surviving out in Gen Pop,” he said, trying to sound assuring, but he was in really rough shape.

Shaking his head side to side, Luke couldn’t find any words to say, so he did the only thing he could think of and kissed the man again. Once more their bodies melded together, like they’d been doing this for years instead of just three times in the course of two months.

“Dr. Oliver,” Luke breathed out when they parted.

“Call me Reid.”

“Reid,” he said for the first time. The name sounded so natural coming from him. He turned his big brown eyes to the doctor and confessed to him, “I didn’t think I ever wanted anyone to touch me again after what happened.” He paused a moment and took a breath. “But being here with you… it makes me want to be touched again.”

Reid sucked in a breath. He’d never been in such a position before. He’d watched this young man go from being near death after his attack to this, to seeing a passion in him for life, for love. 

“Come with me,” he said. If they were going to do anything further, it wouldn’t be in the office where Gloria or a nurse could walk in at any time. There was an old bathroom down the hall that no one ever seemed to use. While it wasn’t a great place, it was at least private.

With the bathroom door shut, Luke found himself being pressed up against one of the stalls as Reid’s lips were on his again. “Touch me, Reid,” Luke panted. “Please? I need to feel… feel like I can be touched and actually _want_ to be.” Whenever Sir touched him, it was always rough, yanking and tugging, not in the least bit pleasurable. But then, that was the point. That Sir could hurt him and still his body would react and he would come, despite the pain.

Reid’s touch, though, it was something he yearned for. When his grey slacks were undone and Reid’s fingertips were actually brushing over his cock, he knew that this was far better than what he dreamt of. The touch was gentle, if somewhat hesitant at first, letting him get used to it. His eyes fell shut as his body leaned more against the stall for support. “That feels so good, Reid,” he whispered. 

His hand wrapped around Luke’s now stiff cock as he began to stroke slowly up and down, pulling back once to spit into his hand to ease the trip even more. 

It had been a long time since Luke had actually felt a nice, easy hand upon his cock. He hadn’t even touched himself since coming to Oz. Reid knew just what he needed though, it seemed. He never thought of a hand job as _caring_ before, but that was what it seemed like. Reid was caring for him, helping him heal by helping him _feel_. 

“Can I?” Luke asked, opening his eyes again and looking down towards Reid’s crotch.

“If you’d like to,” Reid replied.

With his own tender hands, Luke undid Reid’s pants and, through the fabric of the boxers underneath, allowed his hand to encase his cock. He rubbed gently up and down a few times before he finally let his hand slip under the band of the boxers. The gasp he heard come from Reid brought him a sense of satisfaction, as well. 

He had missed having a mutual partnership, one with give and take. “Kiss me again,” Luke pleaded. 

When Reid stepped in closer to press their lips together, their now exposed cocks touched and a fire shot between them both. Luke had no pleasurable contact for months, having been forced into everything, but now… now he was reveling in the sensations of having another hard cock pressed against his as they kissed and continued to stroke one another. 

At least until Reid pulled Luke’s hand away and placed it on his ass. At first, Luke was somewhat surprised, but then his and Reid’s cocks were rubbing together more now, aided by Reid’s hand that encompassed them both. 

Their hips rocked together, not even doing so on purpose, just trying to seek out more pleasure from their partners. Luke was trying to stifle his moans. He didn’t think he could last long at all. It had been so long since he felt anything remotely like this, and even when he _was_ with men of his own will, it didn’t feel quite as right as it did with Reid.

“Are you— are you— inside me?” Luke panted. He didn’t know if he was quite ready for that yet, but Reid was leaving. He didn’t want him to go without experiencing everything he could with the man.

Reid shook his head. “No. Not now,” he answered, rocking his hips particularly hard that time, really working up the friction between himself and Luke.

“I’m so close, Reid,” Luke told him, knowing that it was now or never.

But Reid didn’t do it. He kept rocking his hips and rubbing his hand up and down their cocks, feeling just how much Luke was leaking. He brought their lips together again, letting his tongue explore Luke’s mouth, wanting him to come soon.

Both their hips were moving, wanting to get as close to each other as humanly possible. And then get even closer.

When Luke finally came, he let out a groan of pleasure, which was captured in their kisses. Reid soon followed, his hand now coated in both their cum. 

Taking a step back, he examined the scene. Luke was slumped against the stall, cock still out on display, his middle covered in cum, probably from the pair of them.

“Was that what you needed?” Reid asked.

“That felt so… unbelievable,” Luke told him. “I’m going to miss you,” he then added after a few moment’s of silence.

“No, you won’t,” he replied.

“But you’ve done so much for me,” Luke said. “You saved me… and you gave me work and then… now this. I’ll miss you even more now after this.”

“I’m not going back,” Reid finally told him.

That managed to throw Luke for a loop. “Wait. You’re not going back? But… you never wanted to be here in the first place.”

“I know,” Reid admitted, not like it was any big secret. “But I’ve found a lot here that… that I like. I never thought I’d want to stay here, but there’s a real need for good doctors here.”

“But… what about your brain surgery? Don’t people still need you?”

Reid nodded at that. “And that’s where things get tricky. I won’t be either place full time, but the hospital I do work at is an hour away from here. I’ll still be working there doing surgeries when I’m needed, but there’s a whole team there that’s not as qualified as I am, but they’re good at what they do.”

“So, you’re really… you’re staying here?” Luke asked again, still stunned.

“When I started here, Glynn told me something. He said once you’re in Oz, it seems you never can get out. I didn’t believe him at the time, but I guess he was right.”

 

_So, what have we learned? What's the lesson for today? For all the never-ending days and restless nights in Oz? That morality is transient? That virtue cannot exist without violence? That to be honest is to be flawed? That the giving and taking of love both debases and elevates us? That God or Allah or Yahweh has answers to questions we dare not even ask? The story is simple: a man lives in prison and dies. How he dies? That's easy. The who and the why is the complex part. The human part. The only part worth knowing... Peace. ~ Augustus Hill, Oz_


End file.
